Seven years of great cause, summer.

Luo Cheng led his troops to march east with the First Army of the left flank, out of Zhuo County, through Yuyang County, Beiping County, through Lulong, out of Linyu Pass, and into Liucheng County in western Liaoning.

Walk between the mountains and the sea.

The road under their feet is the road that Yang Liang, the king of Han, the general Wang Shiji, and the prime minister Gao Gong led 300,000 troops to the Eastern Expedition in the eighteenth year of the emperor's reign.

Marching is actually boring.

Get up at five watches every day, make food after the meal, set off after eating, stop marching, set up camp, rest for a night and continue to repeat the march.

The First Army was followed by the Second Army, and the two armies were forty miles apart.

This is exactly a day's journey, and the 10,000 soldiers of the First Army, 8,000 auxiliaries, and the other 30,000 civilians are also separated from each other.

A cavalry regiment opened the way in front, a cavalry regiment at the rear of the apse, and two other cavalry regiments protected the flanks in the middle. The four infantry regiments of 8,000 people were also divided into three parts, the front, middle and back, and Luo Cheng's 2,000-man regiment was arranged by Luo Yi in front because it was better equipped than other infantry regiments.

They were ten miles away from the forward cavalry, and they were also ten miles away from the Chinese infantry and baggage behind.

Out of Linyu Pass, the further east, the more difficult the road becomes.

Especially in the summer at this time, there are many winds and rains, and there are often heavy rains, which delay the progress. Sometimes it rains so hard that roads are washed out.

So in the event of heavy rain, they had no choice but to stop marching and set up camp.

When the road is destroyed, it is necessary to open the road in the mountains and build bridges in the mountains.

Fortunately, Luo Cheng's pioneer group also brought two regiments of people, and they did most of the coolie work, and they didn't have to worry about food and grass.

In this way, he set out from Lu County in early May, and in mid-July, Luo Chengcai finally arrived at the destination of the march, Huaiyuan Town, Liaoxi.

Huaiyuan Town is Huaiyuan County in Liaoxi County, east of Liucheng County, because it is the farthest place actually controlled by the northeastern frontier of the Great Sui and on the west bank of the Liao River, so it has long been designated as the outpost of the Liao War.

Therefore, Huaiyuan set up a military town, and Luhe Town on the edge of the White Wolf Water, and Linhaiden on the Bohai Sea, became the three strongholds of the front line of the Great Sui Eastern Expedition.

Luo Cheng also studied the military maps of Liaoxi and Liaodong when he was fine, he is now on the front line, and Luo Yi, the second general of the first army, is his uncle, so he has a lot of resources, and he can also access these confidential military maps.

Luo Cheng found that Huaiyuan Town was actually the later Ningyuan City, and Luhe Town was the Jinzhou of the later generations. As for Linhaidon, it is Huludao.

Anyone who has read the history of the Ming Dynasty and the history of the Liberation War knows how important the three places of Ningyuan, Jinzhou, and Huludao are in western Liaoning, and this is not the Guanning defense line that was stubbornly defended at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

Liaoxi County, also known as Yingzhou in the early Sui Dynasty, later changed Yingzhou to Liucheng County, and then divided into Yan County and Liaoxi County in the east.

This is an important military town outside the Central Plains Dynasty for hundreds of years, if there is no Yingzhou, the Goguryeo people would have fought the Liao River long ago, and even expanded to Shanhaiguan.

From Linyu Pass, that is, the Shanhaiguan in later generations, to Liaodong, there are two main roads, one is the White Wolf Water Ancient Road, along the White Wolf Water River Valley, marching in the valley, arriving at Yingzhou, this road is relatively old, but it is also more difficult to walk, all in the mountains.

And there is another road, which is the Liaoxi Corridor that was repeatedly contested by the Ming and Qing dynasties in later generations, along the coast.

That is, Guan Ningjin is on the first line.

Out of Linyuguan, through Linhaidun, Liucheng Town, Luhe Town, Huaiyuan Town directly to Liaoshui.

Even when the Bohai Sea is not frozen, it can directly send ships to sail from the Guannai or even the Yellow River estuary to Linhaidun Port, which can greatly improve the ability to transport and replenish grain, grass and baggage.

"Our goal is here."

Luo Cheng pointed to a point on the map, pointed there and said, "You see, now that I, the Great Sui, am bent on conquering Liao and sending millions of troops, I must cross the Liao River and point my sword at Pyongyang." However, the Goguryeo people still occupy a piece of territory on the west bank of our Liao River, and this territory is a thorn in our throat, so we must capture this place before our army crosses the Liao. ”

The fourth looked down and saw that Luo Cheng was referring to the north of Huaiyuan Town.

"Isn't this the west bank of the Liao River, why did the Goguryeo people still occupy our west bank?"

"What's this, the current royal capital of the Goguryeo people, Pyongyang City, used to be one of the four Han counties in our Central Plains in the Han Dynasty, and now it is not also the royal city of the people, and even the entire Liaodong Peninsula, which used to be ours, but over the years, the Goguryeo people took advantage of the turmoil and chaos in the world after the end of the Han Dynasty, and they eroded westward step by step, and in the early years, they even surrounded Yingzhou, so sooner or later they will fight this battle."

The Great Sui conquered Liao, and the Goguryeo people were also on guard.

On the east bank of the Liaohe River, they built a hard thousand-mile defense line, relying on the wide Liaoshui, and established fortresses such as Liaodong City, Xincheng, Baiyan City, and Gaimu City in the east of the river, and at the same time used the mountainous areas behind the Liaodong Plain to build many mountain cities, relying on several major cities such as Liaodong City, forming several huge fortress fortress defense clusters, and then connecting together to try to block the Sui army west of the Liaohe River.

"Two hundred miles northeast of Huaiyuan Town, is the Wuli Luo City on the west side of Liaoshui, don't underestimate here, this is very important."

"Why?" The fourth child was puzzled.

"Because the Liao River is vast, especially in the lower reaches of the Liao River, the river has not been dredged for hundreds of years, so it has become a huge river floodplain hundreds of miles wide, full of swamps, especially in summer, when the rain is abundant, it has become a country of Ze, difficult to pass, dense water network, ubiquitous Zetan, a natural uninhabited area that is difficult to cross."

But to the north, the Liao River is much narrower, the small Liao River, Daliang water and other Liaodong rivers are in this downstream to join the Liao River, here is also far away from the sea, so it can be said that this river is narrow, the river is slow, the two banks are also flat, it is an excellent position to cross the river.

Again, this Wuli Luo City is in the upper reaches of Liaodong City, hundreds of miles away, so the defenders of Liaodong City, the first military fortress in Liaodong, are beyond the reach of this place, and the counterattack encountered when crossing the river will not be so strong.

"Take Wuliluo on the west bank, then you can set up a pontoon bridge by the river, and the army can cross the river."

Compared with Huaiyuan Town directly to the east, this Wu Liluo is very important.

In fact, there are many of them in Wuliluo City, which are similar to dungeon forts.

"So the mission of our First Army is not to garrison Huaiyuan Town, but to fight Wu Liluo?"

Luo Cheng nodded, "I estimate that not only the first army of our left flank, but also the second army will also come to fight Wu Liluo, don't underestimate this city, this is the first place that must be captured on the big chessboard of the expedition to Liao." The two armies are 40,000, and there are enough soldiers and horses. The army is still gathering in Zhuogun, and it is estimated that the Goguryeo people thought that we would officially send troops next year, so we were caught off guard by killing them. ”

"That's true, but I don't think it's possible, you just stared at the map and looked left and right, and you could guess the emperor's will? I don't believe it! The fourth shook his head.